Chapter 5 5

Selene sat slumped against the wall, her breath coming in uneven gasps as Rowan's words echoed in her head. You're part of this now. The weight of it threatened to crush her, but she couldn't let herself fall apart. Not yet.

"Harder?" she said bitterly, her voice barely above a whisper. "What could possibly be harder than a giant wolf breaking into my house?"

Rowan's lips pressed into a thin line, his eyes flicking briefly to Lachlan, who knelt to examine the broken shards of the window. Declan appeared moments later, stepping over the wreckage with an unnerving calm.

"The rogue was testing us," Declan said, his tone as clinical as a doctor delivering bad news.

"Testing you? For what?" Selene demanded, her frustration boiling over. She shoved herself to her feet, ignoring the way her legs trembled beneath her. "I didn't sign up for any of this. I didn't ask to be part of your-your supernatural drama!"

"You think we wanted this?" Rowan growled, his voice sharp as he stepped closer. "Do you think we enjoy dragging you into a fight that could get all of us killed?"

"Rowan," Declan said, his tone a quiet warning.

Rowan exhaled harshly, running a hand through his hair. Selene didn't back down, her gaze locking with his.

"What's going on here? What aren't you telling me?" she pressed, refusing to let the tension deter her.

Lachlan straightened from where he'd been inspecting the floor, dusting his hands off. "You really want to know everything? Fine. Here it is: you're sitting in the middle of a territory war, sweetheart."

Selene blinked, her anger faltering as her mind struggled to process his words. "A war? Between who?"

"Us," Declan said, his tone grave, "and the rogues. They've been trying to encroach on our land for months. Tonight wasn't a random attack-it was a message."

"A message for me?" Selene asked, incredulous.

Rowan's gaze softened, just barely. "For us. For the pack. But your arrival has complicated things."

"How?"

The three brothers exchanged a look, their silence speaking volumes. Finally, Declan stepped forward, his posture rigid but his voice gentle.

"This house isn't just a house," he began. "It's sacred to our kind. A symbol of power, of lineage. The fact that you inherited it... it's significant."

Selene frowned, crossing her arms tightly over her chest. "Significant how? My grandmother lived here for years, and no one seemed to care."

"Your grandmother wasn't a threat," Rowan said bluntly. "You are."

"Me?!" Selene barked out a laugh, though it was tinged with hysteria. "I'm not a threat to anyone! I don't even know how to swing a candlestick properly!"

"It's not about what you can do," Lachlan said, his voice uncharacteristically serious. "It's about who you are. Your bloodline. Your connection to this place."

Selene's head spun as she tried to make sense of their words. "My bloodline? What does that have to do with anything?"

"Everything," Declan said simply.

She opened her mouth to argue, to demand more answers, but the weight of exhaustion finally caught up with her. She sank into the nearest chair, her head falling into her hands.

"This is insane," she muttered.

The room fell into an uneasy silence, broken only by the faint sound of the wind whistling through the broken window.

"We'll explain everything," Declan said after a moment, his voice softer now. "But not tonight. You've been through enough for one day."

Rowan looked like he wanted to argue, but Lachlan cut him off with a sharp look.

"He's right," Lachlan said. "She needs rest. We all do."

Selene glanced up at them, her eyes burning with a mixture of fear and defiance. "Fine. But tomorrow, I want answers. Real answers. No more cryptic warnings or half-truths."

"You'll get them," Declan promised, his gaze steady.

Selene didn't trust him-didn't trust any of them-but she didn't have the energy to fight anymore. With a resigned sigh, she pushed herself to her feet and headed toward the stairs.

"Where are you going?" Rowan asked, his tone more cautious than demanding.

"To bed," she said without looking back. "Unless one of you wants to tell me I'm not safe there either."

None of them responded, but she felt their eyes on her as she climbed the stairs, her body heavy with fatigue.

When she reached the small bedroom at the end of the hall, she locked the door behind her and leaned against it, her heart still pounding.

She wanted to cry, to scream, to throw something, but she couldn't bring herself to do any of it. Instead, she crawled into the cold bed, pulling the blankets tightly around her.

As her eyes fluttered shut, one thought echoed in her mind:

What the hell have I gotten myself into?

Downstairs, the brothers stood in tense silence, their attention fixed on the shattered window.

"She's stronger than I thought," Lachlan said, breaking the quiet.

"She'll need to be," Rowan muttered, his silver eyes flicking toward the stairs. "The rogues aren't going to stop now."

Declan nodded, his expression grim. "We'll keep watch tonight. She's not ready for what's coming."

"And if she never is?" Lachlan asked, his voice unusually somber.

Rowan didn't answer. Instead, he turned back to the window, his gaze hardening as he stared into the darkness.

"Then we'll make sure she survives," he said finally, his voice low and resolute. "No matter what."